Today I was asked if Carob was a good substitute for cocoa or chocolate. Not being a fan of food substitutes, largely because on the whole they don't taste as nice and in a of lot cases aren't any better for your health, I hadn't even heard of Carob so I did a bit of research.

Carob is a tropical pod which is ground down into a sweet tasting powder often described as a healthy alternative to cocoa or chocolate. It is lower in fat, but a lot higher in sugar and doesn't contain caffeine or theobromine, which are stimulants found in cocoa. If you are particularly sensitive to stimulants then carob could be a good option, but if you are trying to lose weight or are diabetic the high sugar content will be detrimental. Most people aren't this sensitive to stimulants and should definitely take advantage of their health benefits. Caffeine has been shown to lower your risk of diabetes, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, and theobromine effects the pulmonary system, widening blood vessels, subsequently lowering blood pressure.

Cocoa also contains powerful antioxidants called flavonoids, like what are found in green tea, red wine and blueberries, hot cocoa (more antioxidants are released when cocoa is heated) is actually twice as strong as red wine! These flavanoids fight free radicals helping to prevent cancer and heart disease.

In terms of taste carob has received mixed reviews; some love it, some hate it and some like it but don't think it tastes like chocolate, so on the whole I can't see any benefit in swapping your chocolate for cocoa, it would hinder weight loss and doesn't provide any of the health benefits.

You want to be choosing chocolate that has a high percentage of cocoa solids, so don't start tucking into a bar of dairy milk and say your doing it for your health! Ideally you want to chose one that is 85% cocoa solids and because darker chocolate is slighty bitter it will stop you overindulging.

Got 4 more levels filmed today, 2 with the 16kg and 2 with the 24kg. The 24kg were really tough on my grip and I've got a few nice blisters for my hard work, but I'm confident I'll be able to film level 3 & 4 when my hands have healed.I also practiced the overhead squats for level 7 and side snatches for level 16, but a lack of mobility in my left shoulder meant I struggled. So this is something I'll work on and bring Indian Clubs back into my training, which I haven't done for a while.

I had ten minutes today, so practiced the Over the Shoulder flip for level 13, I've done these before so got back into them pretty quickly. I've got a couple of hours gap in between clients tomorrow so I'm going to film Level 13, then rather than learning another new level, I'm going step up a weight to the 24kg and see how I get on with some of the early levels, level 2 shouldn't be too difficult, but because I haven't done many KB swings since my operation, my grip endurance might struggle with the 40 reps needed for level 1.The heaviest I've juggled before is 20kg so it'll be interesting to see where I'm at with the 24

I planned to get 2 more levels filmed yesterday, but my practice was going so well I decided to go for 4.Level 17 was the most difficult by far, and I messed it up about ten times before I finally got it right, my forearms were throbbing and my grip was shot, so that's why I had celebrated at the end!! I'm officially Rank 4 now and a month ahead of scedule!!

There seem to be a lot of people trying to lose weight on low carb diets this new year, and there's nothing wrong with low carb as long as it is done right. Unfortunately most of the time it isn't, so I thought I'd write a short article to explain why low carb diets must be high fat, not high protein.Whilst protein can be used for energy it is not a healthy method to use in the long term, it is more of an emergency source for the body. The reason being when protein is broken down for energy it releases an element called 'nitrogen', which needs to be removed from the body putting excessive strain on the liver and kidneys. It can also lead to a build up of ammonia in the blood stream, that is toxic to the brain. Fat on the other hand is made up of the same three elements as carbohydrates; carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, which are broken down by the body in large quantities without any side effects. Our body naturally stores excess energy as fat, so it makes a lot more sense to feed it it's natural energy source which is fat.Another thing to consider is that if you are trying to lose fat, then you want your body to become effective at using fat for fuel, rather than glucose and protein is broken down to glucose to be used as energy.

If you are still in the mindset that 'eating fat makes you fat' then have a read of my article on the subject here to clear up any confusion.

So I hope that clears things up and if you are doing a low carb diet make sure it's high fat.

I have been practicing the flips for Levels 4 & 6 this week, and today did the full levels without a mistake, so I'll get the video camera out tomorrow and get those filmed. I also did a bit of practice for Level 17, which was difficult, but fun, so I'm going to focus on that over the next week and I aim to get Rank 4 (10 levels) before the end of March. Which will give me 9 months to reach my goal for the year, which is Rank 3 (20 levels)

I wish I had filmed my practice session today because I completed 4 different levels with some cool under the body flips, so I'll have to get them filmed next week. Also practiced some of the side to side flips with not quite as much success. Did about half an hour altogether, which is longest I've done since my operation, so pretty happy altogether. Keep an eye out for the videos which I pla